Everybody’s Scalin’ – Black Friday Edition

It’s Black Friday and that means people here in the States have shopping on the brain. While the following isn’t exactly a detailed buyer’s guide, here’s five ideas for those of you looking to get the scaler in your life (maybe that’s yourself, ha) a cheap gift or two. None of the following are paid placements or thinly veiled ads; they are just some odds and ends that I’ve found to be quality budget-friendly additions to a truck, but that maybe don’t have the notoriety of more popular hop-ups.

Vinyl wraps for popular vehicles are standard fare nowadays but this particular style really made my eyes pop out when I saw them for the first time –Freqeskinz Rust Bucket Series. The pic above shows the design on the shell that I think it looks best on (Pro-Line’s Toyota Pickup), but you can get it for several popular ones. They are easy to install and look fantastic without the hassle of an intricate paint job.

One of the most fun aspects of scaling is taking a stock rig and eventually packing it to the gills with upgrades; steel gears and drive shafts, aluminum axles and wheels, ABS plastic hard bodies, etc. All of a sudden you have what’s known as a “pig”- a heavy ass truck! The Team Ottsix 2 Stage Foams for Heavy Trucks are made just for these kind of vehicles. You can get the sidewall flexibility you need to let your tires do work, but they won’t be smashed flat the whole time either. These work even better when paired with a set of Ottsix’s killer tires!

Without a doubt, the first upgrade that needs to be made on RTR 2.2 sized vehicles that use Wraith axles is to take the plastic steering links and chuck ’em in the trash. There are few things that drive me as crazy as a truck that has a mind of it’s own thanks to wonky flexible steering links. Incision, Vanquish’s new lower cost product line, makes a fantastic Stainless Steel Steering Set for a major value. I currently have these on three AR60 axle equipped trucks and they’ve never let me down.

RC4WD Super Scale 1/10 Rubber Mirrors (Style B) – $6.99

I have a love / hate relationship with scale appearing rear-view mirrors. They can really enhance the realism of your vehicle…but as anyone knows who’s done any hardcore crawling with them for more than 5 minutes, they are prone to snap and bust off. RC4WD has developed a great compromise though – rubber mirrors! We have these on one of the office RC4WD Trail Finder 2’s and they are fantastic. If you want the look without the hassle then check these out. They take 5 minutes to install and alleviate a major headache.

Axial AR44 Steering Knuckles – $7.99

Replacement stock parts are never a “sexy” recommendation when it comes to upgrading a vehicle, however in this case I think it bares mentioning. These Axial AR44 Steering Knuckles started coming standard on the RR10 Bomber and I can tell you from personal experience that they are big upgrades over the old ones that used to come on the Wraith/AX10 vehicles. They are well worth spending a few bucks and retro-fitting your older Axial rig. I’ve put them through the ringer and they work great. They’ve proven durable enough to me that I don’t use pricey aluminum get-ups anymore, I just have a set of spares sitting in my box should something happen. Much cheaper this way!

So there you have it. Hopefully you find something on this list useful. Not all quality upgrades need to break the bank!